Plasan Carbon Composities to close Bennington facility in May

BENNINGTON -- Plasan Carbon Composites expects to close is 139 Shields
Drive facility in May and consolidate its operations in Grand Rapids,
Mich.

"We're going to be closing the Plasan Carbon Composites plant and
consolidating it into our Michigan facility," said James Staargaard,
president of Plasan Carbon Composites. "It's not an easy decision, and
certainly as it relates to the employees we're doing everything we can
to ease the transition for them."

Staargaard said the announcement was made to employees at 11 a.m.
Thursday. The plant has 143 full-time employees who manufacture carbon
composite car parts, specifically for the Viper SRT and Corvette.

"This does not affect Plasan North America, the armor business," said
Staargaard. "In fact, they are moving some assets from Boston to
Bennington this week and next week, so Plasan is still committed to
the Bennington area, to the armor business."

He said a severance package will be offered to employees but details
about what it entails are not being made public.

"We are doing as much as possible to help them and incent them and
bridge that gap," Staargaard said.

According to Staargaard, there are few expert engineers in the carbon
fiber automotive industry, and splitting those people and resources
between two facilities so geographically far apart is not efficient.

"We just wanted to consolidate all our assets and resources into a
single facility," he said. "It's better business, but again nothing
negative about our employees at all.

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It's where we are."

Plasan Carbon Composites has been making Viper parts at the Shields
Drive plant for the past two years, but has been operating there since
2006.

"We're not abandoning the building," Staargaard said. "It'll probably
be used in some way, shape, or form by the armor business."

He said the move is strictly about the need to consolidate resources
and there is nothing the town could have done to make staying in
Bennington feasible. "There's really nothing they could do, because
there's nothing they did wrong," Staargaard said. "That's what it
comes down to, the employees we have are great, and the fact that the
parent and sister companies are staying here is a testament to that.
It's not about Bennington, it's not about Vermont."
Peter Odierna, executive director of the Bennington County Industrial
Corporation, a non-profit that promotes industry in Bennington County,
said the composites industry in this area has a shortage of qualified
professionals that some of the former Plasan employees could
potentially fill, but it's too early to tell how those companies will
react.

"This clearly is a setback, but we've experienced setbacks before and
have been able to move forward in a productive way," Odierna said.
He said it also remains to be seen what Plasan will do with the
Shields Drive facility, but BCIC is prepared to offer assistance in
finding a tenant if need be. He said BCIC is planning a job fair to be
held in May.

"Obviously this was a corporate decision made to improve their bottom
line," said Town Manager Stuart Hurd. "It had nothing to do with what
Bennington or Vermont could or could not offer them."
Local legislators responded to the news Thursday in written statements.

"Our priority will be to focus on finding the employees that have lost
their jobs new employment opportunities as soon as possible," said
Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington. "We will be coordinating efforts with
Commissioner Annie Noonan and the Department of Labor to ensure these
workers have access to all available state and federal resources. I am
hopeful these efforts will lead to job placement for the workers that
have been laid off to help ensure the vitality of Bennington."

"My primary concern in the wake of this news is the economic security
of the employees who have been laid off." said House Rep. Bill Botzow,
D-Pownal/Woodford "We in the legislature will work diligently with the
Department of Labor and the Department of Economic Development to
utilize our resources to help support working Vermonters. It is my
priority that those without employment will be able to return to the
workforce quickly."

Plasan has been working with the Vermont Department of Labor,
according to Noonan. "In layoff situations, the affected workers will
be eligible for job placement assistance, education and retraining
through the Dislocated Worker program, as well as unemployment
insurance benefits," she said in the statement.

Noonan said additional funds for workers will be sought through a
National Emergency Grant, and the Trade Adjustment Act. "(The
department's) Rapid Response Team will be working with Plasan to setup
on-site to present this information to the workers, as well as start
the paperwork for unemployment and reemployment services."

Contact Keith Whitcomb Jr. at kwhitcomb@benningtonbanner.com or follow
him on Twitter @KWhitcombjr.

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